Three World Events

Next Part Chapter 7: Why God’s Wrath Temporarily Held Back

Understand! The Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are not synonymous! These are completely separate, different events. The Heavenly Signs come between the Tribulation, which precedes them, and The Day of the Lord, which follows them. (Although only Matthew 24:21, 29and Revelation 7:14 use the term “Great Tribulation,” at least thirty scriptures speak of it.)

The religious leaders of this world are in almost complete ignorance of how these three great earth-shattering events come—in what order they appear. Most believe them to be synonymous. They are not!

Chapter Outline of the Book of Revelation
Chapter	Story Flow
1	Introduction
2-3	Message to the Seven Church Eras
4-5	Prelude-Setting
6	First Six Seals
7	The Two Companies
8-10	The Trumpets
11	The Two Witnesses
12	The True Church
13	The Two Beasts
14	The Three Messages
15-16	The Seven Last Plagues
17-18	The Great False Church
19	The Return of Jesus Christ
20	The Millennium
21-21	New Heaven and New Earth

The Tribulation comes first. “Immediately after the tribulation” (Christ recorded) come the Heavenly Signs. These introduce the Day of the Lord (God’s Wrath), which is a separate period of events. We have seen how Joel, Zephaniah and Matthew have explained what Christ revealed in vision to John in the Revelation. By now, these great events should be clear.

Christ also taught His disciples, “...in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men...” (Mark 7:7-8). There are many “traditional,” but incorrect, views of prophecy.

More and more people are writing of prophecies they know nothing about. They ignore what God says, in order to promote time-honoured, empty theories—or even newer, more far-fetched ideas. I have just reviewed an article in a national magazine about much of what has been covered so far in this booklet. It demonstrates appalling ignorance of even the most basic facts of scriptures pertaining to end-time prophecies. Yet the article shows that almost three out of five Americans (scores of millions) believe that the mixed-up jumble of ideas it references about Revelation will soon come true, but only in some inexplicable, mysterious way. Millions of other professing Christians, no doubt because they either do not care or are confused, reject anything to do with prophecy! Either way, people remain ignorant.

Story flow of the book of Revelation
THE SEVEN SEALS	PROPHETIC EVENTS
FIRST	False prophets
SECOND	War
THIRD	Famine
FOURTH	Pestilence
FIFTH	Tribulation
SIXTH	Heavenly signs
SEVENTH	Seven Trumpets
1st	Trees injured
2nd	Sea injured
3rd	Rivers injured
4th	Heavenly catastrophes
5th	First Woe
6th	Second Woe
7th	Thired Woe (or The Seven Last Plagues)
The Return of Jesus Christ

Most people believe the Tribulation, Heavenly Signs and Day of the Lord are identical—are one and the same. No one who cannot distinguish between these separate events has any hope of understanding what God has prophesied.

Here is an important distinction: The Day of the Lord reflects the Wrath of God. The Tribulation is actually the wrath of Satan the devil. This fallen angel is well aware that he has but a short time to remain the god of this world (II Cor. 4:4), deceiving the nations (Rev. 12:9). His time is almost up.

The Tribulation is also Satan’s final persecution and martyrdom of many of God’s true servants in a lukewarm condition. If they remain close to God, Satan cannot deceive them, and so he is furious.

If you seek God, you need not worry about events soon to strike all nations. Take a moment to read Luke 21:36. It is a reassuring promise from Christ that requires you to “WATCH...and PRAY...that you may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE all these things...and to stand before the Son of man.” Then read Christ’s sobering description in the preceding verses of how these events will strike a completely unsuspecting world “like a snare.”

The goal of a Christian is to stand before Christ at His Return, and rule with Him when the kingdom of God is established!